Twee Riviere

Twee Riviere, Tsitsikamma

In the heart of the Cacadu district, where the 160 km long Langkloof narrows on its eastern edge, you will find the historical town of Twee Riviere.

The Langkloof is the heart of the apple farming industry of the Eastern Cape; the sides of the road a burst of green and red apples when in season. Only recently 're-discovered' by tourists, Route 62 (the longest wine route in the world) brings visitors from Montagu, Robertson, McGregor and Ashton into the Langkloof in pursuit of its beauty.

Twee Riviere is a stone's throw from Joubertina and takes its name from the two rivers that rise in the Tsitsikamma Mountains to the south and flow through town.

The community is one of the oldest in the valley. The earliest records of the farm Twee Riviere date back to 1765, making the town 250 years old in 2015 (the whole town celebrated its bicentenary with a dinner in the main street between the Belfry Kitchen and House Imbali). Joubertina is comparatively young, founded as recently as the early 1900s.

Town is a series of quaint lanes merging with apple orchards and flower beds. It is less a town and more a collection of Victorian style cottages, barns and paddocks criss-crossed by an old aqueduct system that brings mountain water to every homestead. There is no grid system of roads here; plots are large and dry stone walls, horses and tin roofs dominate the landscape.

One hundred and thirty families live in the village made up of families representing about fifty surnames. You reach it by turning south off Route 62 about 4 km after Joubertina.

The Belfry Kitchen is the town's best kept secret (although not for long). Serving as a coffee shop for the South African Institute for Ceramic and Metal Restoration, its reputation as a Saturday lunch venue means that you battle to get a table (and the ladies' room is a sensation!). Find it on the main road, in the recently revived local Post Office on main road, hidden in amongst a series of large trees. You can also stock up with wood-fired oven baked bread, muffins and locally grown vegetables and fruit.

Twee Riviere is 15 km from Storms River, 130 km from Plettenberg Bay and 80 km from Uniondale.